Book 4: White-Clothed Calamity
MXTX Author Notes: This book is set in the past timeline; this is about the first banishment after
the fall of XianLe. Follows after Book 2. Not too long~
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Xie Lian jolted awake in horror.
His body was drenched in cold sweat from the scare and he shot up from his rest, burying his face in his hands.
The reason he was woken from shock was because of a dream. Within the dream, both his father and mother hung themselves and committed suicide. He saw it, but there was no joy nor grief, no tears to flow, and he woodenly prepared to prepare himself another white silk band. Just as he was sticking his head into the knot, he saw below there was a white clad man wearing the crying-smile mask jeering at him, and his heart jolted, the knot tightened, and a crushing suffocation came. Then he woke up.
It was already daylight outside the window, and from the exterior came a voice, "Your Highness! Are you awake?"
Xie Lian answered offhandedly, "I'm awake!"
It was only after having violently panted for a good while did he realize that he wasn't sitting on a futon, instead it was a sheet of straw mat under his body. Although it was layered with many batches of hay, extraordinarily soft, but to him it still wasn't quite comfortable. Even now he still wasn't used to such simple and crude bedding.
The one who called for him just now was Feng Xin. He went out early in the morning and had just brought back food, and was still urging Xie Lian from the outside to go take his meal. Xie Lian acknowledged him and crawled up.
That sense of suffocation in the dream was too real and his hand unconsciously felt his neck. He had only wanted to verify whether if there really was a strangle mark left behind by a knotted white silk band, yet unexpectedly, he had actually felt something.
Xie Lian was shaken at first, and he rushed to grab a mirror tossed on the ground not far away, but when he looked at his reflection, he realized it was a band of black collar encircling around his neck. Thus, he finally calmed, and remembered everything.
It was the cursed shackle.
Xie Lian's fingers probed at it.
Once banished to become a mortal, other than aging slower than normal humans, there weren't many other privileges. However, when Jun Wu first fabricated Xie Lian's cursed shackle, he still showed some mercy and left him room to accommodate.
While this cursed shackle locked away his spiritual powers, it also sealed his age and flesh body at the same time, allowing him to neither age nor die. Furthermore, Jun Wu told him, if you managed to ascend again, then everything in your previous life shall be forgiven, and this thing would be removed.
But, to wear such a thing on the body was no different than a criminal whose face was branded as a sinner, no doubt a bone-deep humiliation. Having thought this, Xie Lian reached out to the side and grabbed a white silk band, ready to pull it over his head. Yet the moment he raised his hand he suddenly recalled that terrifying feeling of his neck slowly being strangled from the dream and he hesitated. However, in the end he still pulled it out and wrapped it thoroughly around his neck and the bottom half of his face before going out.
Feng Xin and Mu Qing were already waiting for him outside. Feng Xin had brought back steaming hot steamed buns and Mu Qing was slowly munching at it. Feng Xin passed two over to Xie Lian but when Xie Lian saw those dull and dried crude buns he lost his appetite, so he shook his head, refusing them.
"Your Highness, you have to eat something in the morning. We have to work afterwards, and it's not labour that'd can be done with just sitting around." Feng Xin said.
Mu Qing didn't bother looking up, "Yea, even if you don't eat this there's nothing else to eat. You can faint again but you'd still have to eat this in the end."
Feng Xin glared at him, "Watch your tone."
Xie Lian had ascended for a few years and had long forgotten what it was like to eat. A few days ago he nearly fainted, and it was only after that he realized it was because he hadn't had anything to eat for several days. This was the incident Mu Qing was referring to. Sitting on the side, Xie Lian didn't want those two to start fighting so early in the morning so he changed the subject immediately, "Let's go. We don't even know if we'll find any work yet today."
Xie Lian of the past was of a noble and prestigious status, and since he possessed a celestial body, unneeding of mortal sustenance, naturally there was no need to worry over making a living. However, the him now, while he was still a crown prince, the Kingdom of XianLe was already no more; while he was still a god, he had long since been banished. Now that he was basically no different than a mortal, naturally he needed to concern himself with how to live his days. The profession of cultivators was of course catching ghosts and performing services, but it wasn't like there were demons and monsters for you to catch or rituals to be performed everyday, so, a majority of the time they still needed to find some casual, temporary work, like helping with transporting goods or some manual labour.
But even such small errand-like jobs might not be so easily grabbed, since up until now, there were much too many impoverished civilians who were displaced. When these paupers saw there was work, they didn't even need payment; with just a bun and half a bowl of rice and they'd be willing to labour, swarming up to fight for the work, so how could Xie Lian and company possibly compete? Even if they managed to grab something, after Xie Lian deliberated, he might still think that others needed the work more. Sure enough, after walking the streets for a good while, they still found nothing.
"Can we not find something more stable and respectable to do?" Mu Qing grumbled.
"Rubbish. If it existed we would've long since gotten it." Feng Xin said, "Don't respectable jobs need to have faces shown? Who doesn't recognize His Highness' face? If he was recognized, how would the work remain stable?"
Mu Qing stopped talking. Xie Lian on the other hand, wrapped the white bandage covering his lower half of the face tighter. Indeed, if anyone was to recognize who he was, then they would have to either flee or they'd be beaten and chased away. And for example, if they were to enlist for a security guard job, who would possibly be comfortable enough to hire someone with an unknown background, a security guard who wouldn't even show his face? They couldn't go and take up assassination jobs either, so their choices were very limited.
It was impossible for gods to worry over hunger. However, mortals needed to eat. Ever since Xie Lian was young he had never had to consider these kinds of affairs, and this was truly the first time in over tens of years that this problem gripped him. However, if gods didn't even know what starvation felt like, how could they possibly understand the feelings of a starving worshipper? How could they possibly empathize? At this point, he could only take this experience as a form of training.
Just then, there was a sudden cacophony of gongs and drums from not far in the distance, and a large crowd gathered to see what was happening. The three followed with the flow and went up to watch, and there were a few martial artists and clowns hollering with all their might within the crowd. It was a street busker. Mu Qing tried suggesting again, "If all else fails, why don't we go busk?"
Xie Lian was also considering the same thing, but before he responded, Feng Xin was already replying as he watched, "What foolishness are you spouting? His Highness' body is worth a thousand gold, how can he go do something like that?"
Mu Qing rolled his eyes, "We've carried bricks already, so how is busking any different?"
"Carrying bricks is feeding ourselves with our own physical strength," Feng Xin said, "Busking is to entertain the masses, to amuse them by making fools of ourselves, so of course it's different!" Then, one of the clowns who was hopping about tripped and fell. The crowd roared with laughter as he pulled himself up and bent at the waist to bow, picking up some scattered coins tossed on the ground. Seeing this, a deep sense of rejection rolled up in Xie Lian's mind, and he shook his head forcefully, striking out "busking" as a viable path of employment. When Mu Qing saw, he said, "Fine. Then let's start pawning stuff."
"We've already pawned a lot of stuff," Feng Xin said, "Otherwise we wouldn't have made it until now. The rest can't be pawned."
Suddenly, behind the crowd came waves of surprised shouts, and someone yelled, "THE SOLDIERS ARE HERE! THE SOLDIERS ARE HERE!"
Hearing that the soldiers had come, the bustling crowd watching the show broke up. Soon after, a band of soldiers with weapons in their hands, donned in shiny new armours, their airs impressive, strutted down the street, interrogating anyone who appeared suspicious. The three hid in the crowd and heard people beside them talk:
"Who are they trying to catch?"
"Don't worry, they're not here to arrest us. I heard they're trying to capture the XianLe royals who had escaped."
"Apparently someone saw suspicious characters around here, so the city's been really strict in searches lately."
"For real?! My goodness, have they actually fled to this place?"
Hearing this, the three exchanged looks and Xie Lian whispered, "Let's hurry back and see."
The other two nodded. They silently left the crowd separately, and only after having walked for a while without garnering attention before they met up again, dashing away.
They ran up to a desolate piece of woods up on a small mountain, and from afar Xie Lian could see a thick column of smoke coming from within the woods. His heart dropped heavily; could the YongAn soldiers have already discovered this place and set off fires to murder?
They ran closer, and there was a broken little cottage hidden in the trees, possibly left behind by some past unknown hunter. The thick smoke was coming from inside this cottage and Xie Lian blurted, "MOTHER! WHAT'S GOING ON, ARE YOU THERE?"
After his shout, a woman emerged in greeting and called out happily, "My son? You've come?"
It was the queen. She was dressed plainly and thinned quite a bit, slightly different than her affluent lady appearance of the past. Seeing that his mother was fine and her face was full of delight, obviously unbothered, Xie Lian relaxed but then quickly asked, "What's with the smoke?"
The queen replied, embarrassed, "...It's not really anything. I just wanted to do a little cooking today..."
Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry and said, "Don't! What cooking? Just settle with the food Feng Xin and Mu Qing bring you everyday. This smoke is too conspicuous; where there's smoke, there's people, you'll attract the YongAn soldiers. We bumped into them in the city earlier. This city will also tighten their security, we'll need to move to a different place again."
Feng Xin and Mu Qing entered the cottage to put the smoke out, and the queen didn't dare to be negligent either, so she went to the back rooms to talk to the king. Feng Xin came out and whispered, "Your Highness, are you not going to go see his majesty?"
Xie Lian shook his head, "No."
The two of them, father and son, one was the king of a fallen kingdom, the other was a banished god, just who was the more pathetic, the more ashamed really couldn't be compared. If they were to be forced to sit down to face each other, they'd only glare at one another instead of having a heart to heart, so if they could avoid seeing each other, it'd be for the best. Xie Lian called out, "Mother, why don't you pack up in a bit, and we'll leave today. We'll come pick you up in the evening. We'll leave for now."
The queen quickly came out again, "My son, you're leaving just like that? You haven't visited in so many days, why leave so fast?"
"I have to go train." Xie Lian said.
In truth, it was to go find work, otherwise they couldn't possibly gather enough sustenance for so many people. "Have you eaten yet this morning?" The queen asked.
Xie Lian shook his head. The three of them were starving by now. The queen said, "Then you'll break your body. Fortunately, I just stewed a pot of porridge, come in and grab a bite."
Xie Lian wondered inwardly, 'Why was there so much smoke like the palace was on fire if it was just a pot of porridge...'
The queen turned to Feng Xin and Mu Qing, "You two children come eat with us too."
Feng Xin and Mu Qing hadn't expected to receive such a treatment at all and tried to decline, but the queen was adamant, so the two could only sit down timidly at the table, both feeling rather surprised and flattered.
However, after the queen brought over that pot, their surprise soon turned into dread.
After returning to the city, Mu Qing's stomach was still turning, and he said as he stumbled, "I thought... that porridge, it smelled like bran water, but I hadn't thought it'd taste like it too!"
Feng Xin gritted his teeth, "Shut up! Don't force people to remember that pot of stuff! The queen is... body of ten thousand gold after all... never cooked... this is already... UGH! ..."
Mu Qing humphed, "Did I say something wrong? If you didn't think it was like bran water, why don't you... go ask the queen to grant you another bowl! UGH! ..."
The two were heaving back and forth and Xie Lian grabbed hold of the both of them, patting their backs, "Stop heaving! Look, up ahead... there seems to be some work!"
Sure enough, when the three stumbled over, there were a couple little ringleaders shouting on the streets looking for hired help. The pay was fairly decent and there wasn't a limit to the number of help needed, they would take everyone who'd come, so the three quickly signed up, mixing in with a group of disheveled, skinny to the bones paupers, forming a large band as they came to a muddy, empty field. It seemed there was the intention of building a new residence here so the area was going to start on overhaul, beginning with filling in the grounds first. The three worked hard, their bodies covered in mud. Feng Xin was hauling earth as he hugged his stomach, his face green, cursing, "...Fuck me! I think that pot of stewed bran water turned into a spirit in my stomach!"
Xie Lian was carrying a basket full of earth and he looked back, speaking in a hushed voice, "Can you hang on? ... Do you want to sit down for a bit on the side?"
Mu Qing turned to Xie Lian, "Why don't you go rest on the side."
"No. I can still hang on." Xie Lian replied.
Mu Qing rolled his eyes, "Don't be stubborn. If you dirty your clothes I'm the one who has to wash them. I'd rather do your part of the work." Not far in the distance, someone yelled, "WORK HARD AND DON'T TALK! DON'T BE LAZY! YOU STILL WANT TO GET PAID?"
Feng Xin was tenacious and continued to hang on, even hauling twice the amount of mud than before, "It's not like it's a lot of pay, why make so much fuss like they're all that?"
After a grueling day, having fought from high noon to sunset, the work was finally done. Physically, the three weren't completely exhausted, but to have worked so hard only for some meagre pay and a bite to eat, the heart was more tired than the body. When they finally gained some free time, they laid down on a field that was slightly more clean to rest. Just then, another group came around, rowdy and noisy. A couple of the men were hauling a stone statue as they walked over slowly.
Xie Lian looked up slightly, "What statue is that?"
Mu Qing glanced at it too, "Maybe the new divine statue to guard over this place."
Xie Lian didn't speak.
If this was the past, then the chosen divine statue to guard land would be his crown prince statue without question, yet now who knows which god this would be. It was most likely to be Jun Wu, or perhaps whichever official who was newly ascended.
After a long pause, in the end Xie Lian still couldn't help but wonder just who it was that replaced him, so he forced himself to get up and shuffled close to the crowd to take a look. That stone statue had its back facing him so he couldn't see the face clearly, but, it seemed to be kneeling. Now he was even more curious. Which heavenly official's divine statue kneeled? Then then went around the large circle before turning to look.
When he saw, his entire mind went blank.
The face of that divine statue was his own!
That kneeling statue was settled onto the ground, and someone on the side rudely patted its head, "It's finally transported. This bastard is pretty heavy!"
"Why did you haul over a statue like this? It's kinda ugly, why not bring over the Heavenly Martial Emperor? Isn't this that what's-his-face..."
"It's that one, right? Didn't they say worshipping him would bring bad luck? You guys still dare worship him? And to go out of your way to transport him all the way here..."
"Now, none of you understand. Worshipping a God of Misfortune would certainly bring bad luck, but this statue isn't for worshipping, it's for stepping. If you step on a God of Misfortune, doesn't that mean it'd ensure your everlasting good fortune?"
The crowd was enlightened, "What a good meaning, an excellent symbolism!"
Feng Xin and Mu Qing could also sense something wrong and when they approached, they too fell silent. Feng Xin was about to explode but Mu Qing held him back, warning him with his eyes and said under his breath, "The crown prince hasn't even started anything, so what are you going to yell for?"
Indeed, Xie Lian was quiet and Feng Xin wasn't sure whether if he had other considerations, so he didn't dare move recklessly. Thus, he forced himself to swallow his angry words, but his eyes were blazing like flames. Finally, someone grumbled, "Isn't this... rather inappropriate? He was a god once, His Highness the Crown Prince."
"Please, XianLe has fallen, so what crown prince?"
Another said, "What you said was wrong. Stepping on a God of Misfortune isn't anything inappropriate, in fact, he should thank us."
Xie Lian suddenly piped up, "Oh? Why should he thank you?"
That man explained presumptuously, "Have you seen the thresholds of temples? It's trampled by thousands, hundreds of thousands, but does My Lord see just how many wealthy households are fighting to pay for one of those temple thresholds to be used as their substitutes? It's because every step stepped on that threshold, that threshold would absolve them of a sin, pay a debt, collect a merit. This kneeling statue has the same function. If we each step a step on its head, or spit on it, aren't we also collecting merits for the crown prince? So, he should thank us..."
Xie Lian couldn't listen anymore.
When that man said the word "thank" his fist was already raised and he lunged.
The crowd instantly exploded, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" "FIGHT!" "WHO'S CAUSING TROUBLE?"
Feng Xin already couldn't wait to beat people up, so he also cried as he joined the brawl. Mu Qing couldn't tell if he joined in himself or if he got pulled in. In any case, all three of them started fighting. In the midst of the brawl, there were a number of times when the white bandage on Xie Lian's face was almost yanked off, but thank goodness that didn't happen. The three of them were all skilled in martial arts, but the other party had the numbers, plus afterwards, Mu Qing were holding the other two back, warning them that to kill mortals was to add to their crimes, so the fight ended up being miserably restrained. In the end, while the fight was gratifying, the three were still booted out.
After walking alongside a river for a while looking unkempt, their steps finally slowed. Mu Qing complained angrily, his face black and blue, "We worked so hard all day, but in the end we gained nothing all because of a fight!"
Feng Xin wiped at the blood on his lips, "How can you bring up money at a time like this?"